Swedish Nonsense: From Folklore to Furniture There is nothing apparently Swedish about Swedish nonsense, it seems. Just as in most other countries and language areas we find jocular tales, bizarre ballads and humorous nursery rhymes represented in the folk tradition. And Sweden, too, has its share of nonsense primers and alphabet books. “Learned” nonsense, in the form of mock academic treatises (Falstaff Fakir) and pastiche journalism (the Grönköping weekly, issued monthly since 1902) is perhaps a distinguishing feature of Swedish nonsense, but is probably not unique in an international perspective. In children’s literature, however, Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking and Lennart Hellsing’s Katten blåser i silverhorn (both books published 1945) may well have represented a new departure even by international standards. With their language play and nonsense games they exemplify what has been called “modernism in the nursery” (Kåreland 1999). But maybe the most typically “Swedish” development of nonsense is to be found in furniture. With IKEA, Swedish nonsense has moved beyond the nursery and into the shopping mall. IKEA commercials typically couple verbal and visual nonsense techniques with national clichés and stereotypes. Moreover, IKEA cater to different generation and uses nonsense and nationality to target the global market. Thus, by starting in oral folklore and ending in TV-commercials, this paper attempts a brief overview of Swedish nonsense as a national and international phenomenon and as transgenerational world culture.